Neuroscience of Learning and Development - (Path to Developing Creative Individuals with Wisdom Leading to Sustainable Societies)

Compassion for individual wellbeing and social sustainability(An initiative from a Stanford University-certified teacher of compassion. The way to go for developing wellbeing in individuals devoid of envy, hatred and anger and creating sustainable societies. YES, IT IS SUPPORTED BY A WEALTH OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH/FINDINGS. Practices of compassion (which is empathy + action) lead to a relaxed mind (devoid of stress, fear, anger, hatred) that helps in achieving enhanced learning (forming lasting memories) and wisdom.)

Your Guide to Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (Neuroscience of mindfulness as a means of staying healthy devoid of psychological conditions such as stress, depression and unhappiness. Such conditions essentially lead to enhanced learning and wisdom (i.e. to higher levels of human development as suggested by Abraham Maslow and Kazimierz Dabrowski)

Benefits of Compassion (Neuroscience of compassion reveals us that it is about our health and wellbeing. It is about being more resilient/tolerant to the unavoidable and adversities. It is about enhancing learning, creativity and wisdom. It is about attention, emotion and cognitive self-regulation through which we become more productive individuals. It is not about spinelessness or negativity; rather it is about strength and empowerment.of character.)

The Neuroscience of Learning and Development: Enhancing Creativity, Compassion, Critical Thinking, and Peace in Higher Education (Excellent book on educational reforms! Just completed reading (08/04/2017) - just could not believe that the topic area has evolved so much to a level that makes it possible for direct implementation. It uses neuroscience and human development perspectives as the basis for reforms and discusses attention regulation (AR), emotion regulation (ER), cognitive regulation (CR), creativity, critical thinking, mindfulness and compassionate training practices, self-authorship, the essential need for a change in educational systems and how to manage the dramatic change involved and most importantly how individual learner development leads to peace in the world. A must read for those who are in educational decision-making/policy planning positions.)

Mindfulness practices that keep us away from inflammation and diseases (Neuroscience research reveals how mindfulness practices can help (in addition to helping in enhanced learning and wisdom) in managing inflammation and expression of diseases such as asthma, cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease (possibly by having an impact on the immunity system)).

Why do children need loving care for their development? ( Neuroscience research reveals that early-life chronic stress ( due to like poverty, neglect and physical abuse) can have significant negative lasting impacts on learning, memory and stress and emotion processing. In turn, they will negatively impact on behaviour, health and employment.)

Search Inside Yourself ( How true, to bring peace to this world! On many occasions, solutions to some of the most difficult problems are within yourself (especially within leaders if they look inside themselves). Practices such as mindfulness are in the forefront. They pave the way for developing qualities such as emotional intelligence, empathy, self-awareness/metacognition, resilience and wisdom, the fundamental characteristics leading to peace, individually as well as on the whole. If one of the top organisations such as GOOGLE recognised the importance, why shouldn't the others be keen to follow their way to success?)

Emotional intelligence leading to world peace - the roadmap(GOOGLE engineer Meng Tan, the founder of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI), presenting his roadmap to peace in the world through the development of emotional intelligence. How we achieve that is through mindfulness practices.)

The book "Search Inside Yourself" describing the emotional intelligence/human development program running for many years at GOOGLE (I completed reading the book "Search Inside Yourself" last week (11/06/2017). What an incredible experience! Few things are simply amazing. The book is about the emotional intelligence/ personal growth/ human development program conducted at one of the tech giants - GOOGLE for many years. Who would expect tech giants are to be serious about emotional intelligence/human development and the like? We would expect them to be a place for a set of nerds to work mostly with machines. Considering this general belief, it is wonderful to see that GOOGLE is giving much-needed leadership to overall or holistic human development aspect. This is lead by the GOOGLE engineer Chade-Meng Tan, who has identified that the path to world peace is developing each individual on a personal growth/human development route. Another wonder is that he has correctly put forth that mindfulness practices as the key to this goal, in an evidence-based manner. I like to see and recommend every adult (possibly teenagers) read this book in order to get guided on the personal growth/human development path.)

Gamma - Brain Waves (Gamma brain waves and its relationship to empathy and compassion. At high Gamma levels above 40Hz, it appears that we are able to synchronise (or harmonise or in harmony) our brain operations leading to a high level of consciousness. In contrast, at high beta levels such as in the range of 20-35Hz (as typically found in daily lives), the brain operations are not synchronous (not in harmony) leading to high stress/anxiety levels.)

Changing your mindset could be the key to changing your life (The significance of paying constant attention (i.e being mindful) to what one wants or having a clear purpose in life (reminding us constantly where we are heading). This mindfulness can be contrasted with being robotic or switching the autopilot on to get our routine tasks completed. When we are mindful of what we do, our neural networks strengthen and grow, enabling us to learn and develop wisdom.)

Book Review on "Mindsight: Transform Your Brain with the New Science of Kindness by Daniel Siegel" (24/07/2017)(In “Mindsight: Transform Your Brain with the New Science of Kindness”, the author Daniel Siegel, a Harvard educated clinical Professor of Psychiatry, emphasises the need to integrate cognitive and emotional functions across various part of the brain along with memory types such as implicit and explicit in order to develop healthy minds with a MINDSIGHT or with higher levels of consciousness/wisdom/human development. Without such processes of integration that are well supported by the latest neuroscientific research, individuals tend to develop negative psychological conditions, become sick or would not develop to their full potential. The key neuroscientific concepts behind the above integrative processes are neuroplasticity and epigenetics that allow us to train our minds based on appropriate environmental stimuli. Professor Siegel has given some classic examples (using real counselling cases) of how mindfulness practices can be used to develop healthier minds through the processes of integration mentioned above. He has always used these therapeutic mindfulness practices as more lasting remedies ahead of alternative approaches such as prescribed drugs that usually suppress symptoms while on medication (along with any negative side-effects). The therapeutic practices he used were essentially based on developing critical characteristics of self-awareness and self-regulation. When these skills are practised and developed, individuals become more empathic and compassionate by extending integrative processes from individual to collective lives leading to harmonious and sustainable societies, following the concepts of interpersonal neurobiology.)

Building Relationships with your Child: Learning to LAUGH Together (The importance of parent-child attunement for the healthy development of the child. This appears to play a vital role in an individual's social intelligence development demonstrated later in the life. The well-known psychiatrist Daniel Siegel refers to this healthy relationship between two individuals as resonance that helps to develop the relevant neural circuits in the frontal lobes.)

In “Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life”, the author Jon Kabat-Zinn highlights the message that the practices of mindfulness are not restricted to particular times at some locations, but it can be followed in anything one does anywhere. Further, he emphasises the fact that the mindfulness practices are not rigidly associated with a particular group or religion, rather it is a way of being that any individual can benefit immensely. The essence of mindfulness practices is the notion of getting one’s attention voluntarily on what he/she does in the present moment, non-judgementally. In other words, simply it is about not performing a task with the autopilot on, following the notion of automaticity – instead, it is about getting all the brain resources focused on it in a non-judgemental way. When we pay non-judgemental attention to a task or matter, we tend to see it more openly, in an unbiased manner or we become more receptive to the information per se that reaches us. Such an open reception of information will help us to see the reality as is, instead of through coloured glass, as is the usual case in many situations. Just imagine the strength of the idea of possessing a mind trained with appropriate mindfulness practices with the acquired skills to see or sense everything one does anywhere, anytime clearly and vividly as is, as highlighted by the author, Jon Kabat-Zinn. In fact, Jon was an emeritus Professor of Medicine who himself had been practising mindfulness meditation since the age of twenty-two before introducing mindfulness practices to the mainstream medicine in the USA through programs such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

As an educator, I see a great value for any learner in following mindfulness practices that enable achieving enhanced learning constantly. Neuroscience research has revealed that most of our learning is implicit and it does not necessarily take place in a formal learning environment or classroom. In regard to this revelation, imagine the extent to which a learner can benefit, or can engage in learning per se if he/she can maintain a state of mindfulness constantly by paying voluntary attention non-judgementally in everything encountered and anywhere. In a universe of information that we cannot avoid as the transmission is enabled by various technologies and media cost-effectively, the best way to respond is to be receptive non-judgementally by keeping all our sense open rather than getting overwhelmed by it and closing our receptive sensors. We should also not disregard our internal body signals that help us develop a self-awareness by identifying and reflecting on our feelings, emotions and thoughts and the like in making our all-important decisions and in enhancing our well-being. Researchers have identified that such an awareness that can be developed through mindfulness practices is of prime importance in developing individuals with healthy minds or in achieving higher levels of human development. When we progress to higher levels in human development, we necessarily involve in an integration process of both external information as well as internal body signals that enable a "whole person" development learning path leading to wisdom. Further, we as learners/individuals become better-skilled in essential human functions such as attention regulation (AC), emotional regulation (ER) and cognitive regulation (CR) so that we develop the capacities required to be more effective, empathic, compassionate, resilient and productive social members. These members are better equipped and more capable of identifying and proper addressing of so called wicked problems.

Finally, the author Jon Kabat-Zinn, who himself has been a practitioner of mindfulness for over forty years, put the readers on a path to developing wisdom. The benefits of mindfulness practices have a radiant effect on many facets of life – in enhancing learning, healthcare, self-awareness, emotional and social intelligence, interpersonal relationships, parenting, decision-making and in short overall well-being and productive human operations.

GOOGLE Talks on Emotional Intelligence/Healthy Minds/Empathy/Compassion/Optimal Performance/Productivity etc. (The tech giant invites leading researchers in related areas to talk to their employees to direct them to personal growth leading to productivity)

David Rock on "Your Brain at Work" (Why we need to manage emotions (both positive and negative ones) optimally at workplace and how we ca do it. The role of prefrontal cortex (PFC) in the integrated operation of the brain )

Daniel Goleman on Emotional Intelligence ( Why does EQ value more than IQ (which is valued only at a threshold level)? Why do graduate study entry scores (such as GRE scores) only measure success in the first year of graduate school, but not career/life success (This appears to be true for almost all other academic examination barriers - getting through the barrier only means an entry to the next level, but not candidate's potential in life or career)? Why high internal standards and motivation to continuously work towards them are more important in career/life success more than anything else?)

Thomas Lewis on "The Neuroscience of Empathy" (Why does empathy play a significant role in human species evolution and survival? Since empathic processes involve modeling and projecting other persons' perspectives, they appear to be highly creative processes. Can we infer that creative individuals are more empathic and vice versa? Further, the neuroscientific definition of empathy explains why it is an essential trait of anyone in a leadership role. Otherwise, those leaders will be very ineffective in their roles. What is the neuroscientific difference between normal human beings and sociopaths/psychopaths?)

Philippe Goldin on "Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation" (How can we find the relationships between clinical psychological/psychotherapeutic practices and traditional mindfulness practices so that both fields can grow and extend in their perspectives? How would mindfulness practices help in achieving attention, emotion and cognitive regulation? How would self-concept (especially experiential fluid version as opposed to analytic fixed version) and language help in the cognitive control of emotions? )

Philippe Goldin on "Neuroscience of Emotions" (Neuroscientific explanations of emotions related concepts such as emotional awareness, self-awareness, self-regulation, psychological flexibility and well-being, motivation, mindfulness, empathy, compassion, cognitive reappraisal and the like. Further, why neuroscientists and researchers are very keen on studying empathy and compassion (empathy + desire to act on it) as significant phenomena for human species survival)

Jon Kabat-Zinn (Professor of Medicine who introduced mindfulness practices to mainstream medicine) on "Mindfulness Meditation" (Mindfulness as raising awareness on the present moment non-judgmentally. It is about paying full attention(firing all cylinders) on an object in one's working memory. Since you do it non-judgementally, without an urgency to rush through (that is very much time insensitive manner), your mind is calm and relaxed (all senses, thoughts, emotions/feelings, actions/behaviours etc. are in harmony/synchrony), possibly helping to form new neural networks of knowledge, forming as many connections as possible in a coherent, meaningful manner. That is, one is able to identify new relationships with a flexible/open mind (being creative and insightful without being hampered by stereotypes) among pieces of knowledge held in working memory. Consequently, it should help creating lasting (long-term) memories. Further, a characterising ability of mindfulness practices is the development of self-awareness or self-knowledge. With this self-knowledge, one not only understands oneself better but also, using it as a reference, he/she tends to understand others better (possible more empathically).)

Charlie Halpern on "Practicing Wisdom in the Obama Era" (Mindfulness in legal practice - is it possible and is it necessary?. The need of mindful political leaders with empathy and wisdom to meet contemporary challenges. Are our societies suffering from empathy deficits (similar to budget deficits)? Is empathy a naive luxury?)

Robina Courtin on "Be Your Own Therapist" (How can one be one's own therapist to get rid of neurotic thoughts en route to developing healthy minds? In order to achieve this, one has to look into oneself. The famous psychologist and psychiatrist Kazimierz Dabrowski held a similar notion of auto-psychotherapy, especially in relation to training "psychoneurotics")

Daniel Goleman on "Focus: the Hidden Driver of Excellence" (How is the term "flow" defined (as in positive psychology) in contrast to boredom and stressful conditions? It is a state in which thinker/learners engrossed in the matter at hand even losing track of time and space. Why is this ability to get to this state important for excellence in terms of creativity, productivity, wisdom and the like? Further, it appears that it is an individually identified characteristic in which one needs to recognise one's state of flow on his/her own, ideally)

Meet the doctor hitting big tobacco where it hurts ( How do we recognise exemplary (compassionate) human attitude and behaviour. Once becomes conscious of limitations/adversities within our environment, take action to overcome them and for common good within one's capacities.)

Are selective schools the best place for gifted students?(Interesting discussion on the gifted and gifted learning. We can further add: Can giftedness be simplistically defined as a higher achievement or do we have intrinsically gifted characteristics that in some way relate achievement? Does providing a challenging environment for gifted minds mean pushing them into a higher competition?)

Is It A Cheetah?(It appears that the destruction of human potential in a traditional classroom is not applicable only to gifted learners, but to everyone. However, the gifted may feel the impact more. One major contributory factor for this destruction appears to be the artificially created domain or disciplinary boundaries that forcefully limit human creativity. In this regard, discovery learning through active learner engagement appears to be a promising and effective alternative, instead of the teacher forced curricula and content.)

The Gift of Emotional Overexcitabilities (Sensitivities) (How can we develop metacognitive abilities of these gifted individuals so that they are able to regulate their emotions? Research reveal that mindfulness practices play a key role in making gifted individuals more emotionally intelligent.)

Would you consider yourself an introvert? (Introversion is not something to be cured of as some understand it; take the positives associated with it. Everyone should develop an understanding into introversion/extroversion so that we can develop sustainable societies through a better, deeper understanding of human nature, oneself and fellow human beings.)

Why bad moods are good for you: The surprising benefits of sadness (The famous polish psychologist and psychiatrist Kazimierz Dabrowski observed that even personal tragedies help towards human development to higher levels. We see that if one can overcome significantly sorrowful /challenging conditions/environments he/she becomes more resilient, compassionate and understanding. Further, such experiences appear to make them more creative (as research shows) and better/balanced/optimal decision makers. However, it appears that the real challenge is to survive the period during which the individual undergoes the experiences of sorrowful/negative conditions.)

Tips for Parents of Intense Children (The need to pay the right attention to children (and adults as well) with INTENSITIES such as emotional, intellectual and imaginational as described by the famous psychologist and psychiatrist.)

On the Relationship between Mental Illnesses/Conditions and Sleeping Problems/Deprivations:

Why sleep could be the key to tackling mental illness (The interesting relationship between sleep problems/deprivation and mental illnesses/conditions (such as anxiety, depression and schizophrenia) is worth noticing. Once again, we are reminded of the significance of living a balanced life towards overall wellbeing. Especially, those highly sensitive/overexcitable individuals would become susceptible to sleep problems and their consequences. As neuroscience research reveals, mindfulness/metacognitive practices could go a long way in developing more relaxed minds devoid of anxieties/sensitivities leading to a good night's sleep.)

Doctor suicides prompt calls for overhaul of mandatory reporting laws (This is an area where we earnestly see the need for mindfulness/compassion training practices in which we develop resiliency (converting stressful situations to something positive) skills of individuals. In some Universities of the world, they have already started such practices, especially for students who follow highly demanding courses such as medicine. It would help us to proactively take measures to stop tragedies like this taking place,)

Antibiotics overuse could result in common illness becoming life threatening(Isn't it timely that we develop our immune systems through natural but purposeful means in order to keep away from diseases? As neuroscience research reveals mindfulness and compassion training practices allow us to overcome stressful conditions and develop resilience. Such practices have proven to improve our overall health and wellbeing.https://www.centerhealthyminds.org/news/mind-over-matter-mapping-the-two-way-street-of-the-brain-and-immune-system http://ccare.stanford.edu/education/about-compassion-cultivation-training-cct/benefits/ )

Burning question: Dementia and what you can do to cut your risk (It explains why lifelong learning is important to our wellbeing. In a world of information deluge, we should prepare ourselves to be receptive to diverse information/knowledge reaching us, irrespective of disciplinary boundaries. Such preparation and learning focus will lead us towards enhancing wisdom and human development.)

Mental illness doesn't discriminate, so when it comes to athletes, why do we? (Why is it so important for our overall wellbeing that we have a lifelong purpose (such as lifelong learning) in our lives? Then the whole lifetime can be considered as a strategic project that we manage on our own (as opposed to managing short-term goals). Having a strategic purpose/plan such as lifelong learning would likely to take us away from mental illnesses and conditions such as dementia while maintaining a high level of productivity through the development of consciousness/wisdom and/or human development. Giving emphasis on a lifelong learning target at a very young age would appear to be highly beneficial.)

Walking for exercise: Is it enough by itself? (How walking 30 minutes a day (even in 3 blocks of 10 minutes) for 5 days over a week at a moderate intensity (as opposed to vigorous intensity) can bring significant health/well-being benefits?)

Sleep deprivation costing billions (Less sleep and loss of productivity - can we quantify?. Is sleeping less caused by some unavoidable life matters or is it a choice? Is surviving on less sleep something to brag about? Is there a trend developing over the years about the level of sleep in general?)

Recruiting outside the box: You can get a job at a big firm with any degree (This appears a right step forward. We have a chance to destroy disciplinary boundaries in academic programs and in learning. Further, it gives us a chance to take implicit learning (the most common form of learning though disregarded by contemporary educational systems) of individuals into consideration. Can academic institutes do justice by employing more appropriate assessment frameworks displaying true characteristics of learners? Hope the trend survives and will be embraced widely towards more sustainable and just societies.)

Why top companies are ditching degree requirements for some jobs (A very interesting discussion on the value of credentials, the prestige of the institute and University degrees on the whole, especially when the focus is on narrow specialisation! The question is: "how can we reform the education systems for future needs of the world?")

Rise of the machines: Is a universal basic income the answer for mass unemployment? (UBI (Universal Basic Income) should provide for basic needs of individuals. It would help us to move away from the jungle theory of survival of the fittest. and give a more human face to our operations. Consequently, individuals should be able to engage in more creative activities (even though not very lucrative), balancing life and work more efficiently to enhance overall wellbeing.)

Structural problems are allowing employers to hide profits from workers: ACTU (Is wage stagnation caused by threats from automation, temporary work visas or student workers (who don't have a say on their pay) either alone or in combination? Are employers have become more powerful (in comparison to unions) and exploiting the prevailing labour market dynamics to earn higher profits? How will this trend impact on measures such as productivity, overall economic growth and social sustainability?)

On Automation and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Smarter robots put 50% of jobs at risk(This is where automation leads us. Doesn't the solution lie in the way we educate our learners to meet the next generation challenges - a change in perspective of education and learning?)

Artificial intelligence coming sooner than you think, experts say (This is why we need a paradigm change in the way we provide education or program human brains. We need to encourage and enhance creativity/wisdom/consciousness/mindfulness in our learners instead of stifling them, relying on the phenomenon of neuroplasticity. The phenomena of neuroplasticity and synaptogenesis point towards infinite capacities of the human brain; these capacities need to be developed with purposeful and well-directed activities. )

Upcoming federal budget (and housing affordability around the globe): Leilani Farha (This is a classic example of how contemporary social problems are so entangled and integrated together - housing affordability, investment, safe wealth parking, inequality, foreign buyers, globalisation, narrow short-term economic development only perspective etc. Are these levels of increasing inequality and decreasing housing affordability (globally) sustainable? Are we heading to chaotic futures globally? What are the remedies taken by governments and policy-makers? Are they SENSITIVE enough to these issues or cannot picture out the real nature? Where can we find leaders SENSITIVE to these issues? Can our contemporary education systems produce such leaders? Or do they produce leaders of only narrow specialisations with single discipline views? Can at least the UN provide right guidance and direction towards sustainability?)

Home ownership in Australia in decline for three decades: Grattan Institute (An interesting trend analysis in housing affordability in the country that holds the world record for the highest number of quarters without an economic recession! It good and appropriate to see mainstream media openly discussing permanent renting options in Australia similar to many other advanced economies.)

On Alcohol and Drug Reliance

Ice addiction 'pales into insignificance' compared to harms linked to alcohol abuse, AMA says (Some interesting statistics on alcohol abuse and a comparison with drug abuse! Is alcohol reliance related to the novelty-seeking feature of the human brain? Can the novelty-seeking desires of the brain be satiated with an exposure and encouragement to lifelong/continuous new learning? Should we be able to address these issues with a focus on human development aspects in our education systems at all levels?)

On Domestic Violence

WHO says violence against women is a 'global health issue'(Are these the outcomes of our education systems' inability to fulfil the essential need of "whole individual" development that addresses attention regulation (AR), emotion regulation (ER) and cognitive regulation (CR)? Education needs to be broadly defined beyond obtaining a limited set of skills in a specific disciplinary area. It essentially needs to incorporate generic attributes such as AR, ER, CR, critical thinking and creativity etc. Recent neuroscience research reveals that mindfulness and compassion training practices as part of the mainstream education system help us making appropriate positive changes (due to neuroplasticity feature) in our learners' brains.)

On Environmental and Social Sustainability

On "Everything is the Economy or Economic Management" (Narrow)Perspective

On International Women's Day, why do we ignore mothers? Is "Everything is about economic development or management perspective" losing its steam day by day? Shouldn't we be more conscious and open-minded? Shouldn't we pay attention to human development aspects? Is economic development going to magically produce human development?

Why you're about to pay through the nose for power (Why is it so important that our leaders take decisions leading to sustainability! How can a decision that appears so convincing, albeit narrowly, becomes a disaster at another time? How can we improve our decision-making capacities? How can we be mindful in our decision-making using creativity and critical thinking to avoid pursuing vested interests? )

Where the money laundering buck stops, the CBA faces record fines (Interestingly the same old wisdom - everything is related everything else or simply the connectedness of this universe. Senior management decisions on mere profit increases devoid of holistic views/sustainable development to the use of high tech for automation to turning a blind eye to regulatory body advice/warning to creating money laundering opportunities to creating avenues for funding terrorism to inflicting employee redundancies/layouts to pursue ever-increasing profits despite economic downturns. Where are the solutions for these so entangled problems? Shouldn't our education systems provide a starting point for possible solutions at the grassroots? Shouldn't our education systems take initiatives to promote "whole person" development instead of a single-sided, narrow focus? With a "whole person" development approach, we would be in with a chance to produce leaders with broader visions leading to social sustainability.)